Lynda Benglis, Hepworth gallery. 21.03.2015

To say I was inspired would be an understatement. I adored her work and her imagination. Most of the exhibits brought about an emotion or feeling which captured an essence of what was in effect her reaction to the places visited.

I will need a couple of days to let the excitement settle in order to write a review. The images below is in the order of which I saw them, the description appearing first before an image of the piece. Any comments of mine about the exhibit is below the photograph of the piece.

I started viewing the exhibition by standing before this piece. I liked its size and how the light played upon it, but it didn’t elicit much of a reaction from me as I didn’t truly understand it.

The three pieces above I found exciting, I was inspired by their size and the method in production. Even though I didn’t Understand them – similar to the first piece – these brought about a realisation that the methods open to me as a textile artist had no limits.

The three graces were magnificent. The light played though them and upon them. The textures begged to be touched. I had to restrain myself. Again, I felt inspired by these pieces. I am constantly drawn to up scale my work. I enjoy the physicality of producing large pieces, the dance that takes part with my body and the production of a piece, whatever the medium. I feel excited by large-scale works.

close up

These were produced by using a wire armature as the base, again I can see me using such techniques. I know not how but again I can see there are no limits to what materials I use in the future.

close up

I pondered how time would have been taken to produce the endless layers that went into composing this piece. Again the use of ones body in the slow meditation and ritual in producing a work using wax was inspiring.

The three exhibits above took me to the first piece that I enjoyed looking at how it could have been composed yet they solicited an indifference to me. I wasn’t captivated or excited by them. I didn’t want to spend time with them, I only wished to move on to the next piece.

The Peacock was a blaze with colour and detail it made me think of Joana Vasconcelos whose work is in crochet. The addition of many small found parts does hold your attention as it gives the eye a feast to explore.

The two pieces above whilst magnificent in their size, looked initially rather like a couple of floor standing lamps from ikea. I did quite like them and again their size made me feel sensations of the physical movement needed to produce them.

I was left rather cold by the three exhibits above. they looked clumsy and solicited little emotion from me.

It was the texture produced on this large gold exhibit that intrigued me. it looked fossil like, like the fool’s gold you can find in children’s mineral kits. It was a piece that again looked incredible tactile and I could envisage me exploring its landscape with eyes closed. Unfortunately I was unable to do so, but it was as if the folds and crevices held a text or narrative within them. I would have enjoyed finding out what my reaction would have been if able to explore it in this way.

The two pieces above where by far my favourite. The textures were mesmerising in their abundance and composition. They looked as though they could have been made of molten coal, if there is such a thing? Again I felt that in production the movement and repetition physically would attract me to creating such a work. The way the light played though them and cast shadows was as beautiful as the works themselves. This was the third time in viewing the exhibition that I was brought to see how the piece reacted and sat within the exhibition space. Firstly with the large molten piece which was the introduction to the exhibition, and the light and shade that was cast from its position and secondly when entering room India, of which the vista before me was startlingly beautiful in its positioning of the exhibition pieces and in the richness of the pieces themselves. Overall I found the exhibition inspiring both in allowing me to look at the prospect of being able to use any material I found appropriate for any future work I produce and, to be confident in producing larger pieces of work. This also was an exhibition that brought about an awareness of the physical effort and movements made when producing art. I still do not understand the personal significance of this but it reinforces its important in how I interact with the work I produce and, is vital aspect of why I produce them.